Many years ago we worked with a client who wanted to help people with “out-of-home personal cleansing.” It was surprising in our interviews to learn that some people worried about the germs left behind on a shopping cart handle. Then last year at a high-end grocery store in Tucson I saw this:

A dispenser for cart wipes. Finally a product that addresses the anxiety, if not removing it.

[Recently some students in our Design Research class at CCA came up with some stats around this same issue that I can't remember, but they were disturbing/gross - the handle was the dirtiest item we'd touch in a typical week??]

Last week I was in my local Safeway and saw this pathetic effort:

Safeway has shifted the problem definition, allowing you to clean your hands instead of the cart? If the cart is dirty, what do you get out of cleaning your hands before you shop? Maybe a hand wipe on the way out, after you return your cart? But still, if the cart is (seen as) dirty, then clean the cart.

They’ve put it right in the entranceway in a location that is filled with other things that people need to access (drinking fountains, DVD vending machine, bubble gum, hallway to restroom). And really, the whole thing is poorly executed: it’s all about the poster; with little focus on the thing you need to grab – the wrong-sized wipe dispenser and then it’s finished off with the inappropriate, ugly, exposed garbage bin.

Maybe it was a prototype to see how people used it, but I think they’ve created something so pathetic and so much about failure (theirs, and your own) that the results wouldn’t be worth too much to me.

Tags: cart, clean, cleanliness, dispenser, germs, grocery cart, grocery store, hand, handle, prototype, safeway, sanitary, sanitation, tucson, wipe

4 Responses to “Wipe out”

I saw your article. We manufacture a grocery cart sanitization system that sanitizes the ENTIRE CART before the customer even touches it. As the carts are brought back into the store, they are run through a mini car-wash looking type spray booth that puts a sanitizing mist on the cart. The mist dries in 2-7 min., and each time the customer comes in, they have a completely sanitized cart, without their having to do any work. You can read more about our product at http://www.purecartsystems.com. Have a great day.

Comment by Vicki Harkonen 05.10.07 @ 5:47 am




[...] A quick update on the lame hand-wipe station at Safeway (blogged earlier here) – an unattractive display that cleans hands (not cart handles), and doesn’t really address the perceived problem. [...]

Pingback by All This ChittahChattah : Blog Archive : Safeway Update 06.04.07 @ 12:45 pm




[...] I’ve blogged here and here about good and bad implementations of wipes in grocery stores. [...]

Pingback by All This ChittahChattah » Germs are in the details 04.07.08 @ 11:26 am





You should see the new product that is available in Whole Foods Beverly Hills… it is GREAT!! a biodegradable cover that slips over the handle bar so you don’t even touch the shopping cart. There is even a seat cover version for shoppers with kids so that they don’t come in contact with the cart. I took a brochure.

Comment by patty 12.17.09 @ 7:22 pm